Why does the deforestation of large areas of (rain)forest affect the climate?

Every tree that is felled and removed from the forest will sooner or later rot or be burned, whether as seven-times recycled paper or furniture that has been handed down for years. A carbon stock that has built up over thousands of years in the biomass of the forest is thus released back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide within a very short time.

Deforestation not only results in huge CO2 emissions, which accelerate global warming. Forests have many other important functions for our global climate, which are not only lost through deforestation, but also have an additional negative impact on the climate.

The drought and heat resulting from deforestation, in turn, have a negative impact on the forests: Scientists estimate that with a temperature rise of about 4 degrees Celsius and a deforestation rate of 20–25%, the Amazon rainforest would turn into a vast steppe. Furthermore, since deforestation also leads to the loss of nutrient-rich topsoil and the irreversible displacement of species, even reforestation can never restore the original conditions.

Between 1/8 and 1/6 of all annual emissions are caused by deforestation and the drainage of forest peatlands – meaning that the loss of forest area has a greater impact than the global transport sector. And the worst thing is that for every tree we cut down, we not only release more CO2 into the atmosphere, we also destroy our greatest ally in the fight against climate change.